Texas

Funding from The Grey Muzzle Organization will enable Gold Ribbon Rescue (GRR) to treat periodontal disease in senior dogs, restoring their health, improving their chances of adoption, and improving their quality of life. Grant funds will be used to provide a comprehensive dental exam, blood work and treatment for old dogs with acute dental health problems. Sady, an 11-year-old golden retriever, is typical of the kind of dogs that GRR will rehabilitate with Grey Muzzle’s support. When she arrived at GRR, her mouth was in horrible condition, with fractured teeth that were likely very painful. After dental exams, x-rays, blood work, and extractions, Sady now leads the best, healthy life that any grey muzzle could hope for. Her forever family reports that she is a spunky, happy, pain-free, and outgoing lady who is loving life in her new home.

Gold Ribbon Rescue (GRR) is an all-volunteer organization  based in Austin, Texas, that was founded   on a dream to provide safe, loving, lifetime homes for golden retrievers in need, regardless of age or medical condition. GRR provides a network for rescuing, sheltering, rehabilitating, and placing golden retrievers in permanent homes in central Texas. GRR also provides public education about responsible dog ownership and, in particular, about the golden retriever breed.

The Grey Muzzle grant will support a new Silver Paws & Senior Hearts Program, which allows seniors 55 and older to adopt a senior dog or cat seven years and older without paying an adoption fee. Thanks to the program, Larry and Calli are now fast friends. The program also provides spay/neuter surgery, microchip, food and water bowls, a collar, a leash, a bed and/or crate, food and veterinary visits at no cost to the adopter. If the senior adopter lives within 10 miles of the rescue and cannot provide transportation to and from veterinary appointments, the rescue also provides transportation for the adopted animal.  

This support is offered for the lifetime of the pet  or until the adopter can no longer provide care. At that time, the person’s family can apply to adopt the pet or return them to Charming Pet Rescue. The program is currently offered in the Texas counties of Bexar, Comal, and Kendall.

Charming Pet Rescue is a home-based rescue with a fenced main yard where dogs are free to run and three separate yards for dogs that prefer a more relaxed environment. All have food and water stations throughout. Every evening the dogs are tucked into the rescue’s climate-controlled kennel building with soft bedding. About 50 foster families also provide loving homes and lots of TLC.

Funding from The Grey Muzzle Organization will help Austin Boxer Rescue (ABR) provide nutrition, preventive medication and medical care to rescued senior dogs. All ABR senior dogs receive medical evaluation, treatment for illnesses, injuries and chronic conditions to improve their quality of life, and preventive care to avoid new health issues and prepare them for adoption. By providing socialization, training and a healthy environment for recovery ABR helps older dogs like Winston find loving homes. Sweet Winston was surrendered to a community shelter at age 10. He was confused and frightened, but with the help of a loving ABR foster family he is now prepared to find his forever home. 

Austin Boxer Rescue (ABR) is a nonprofit, volunteer-led dog rescue established in 2006 and serving the entire state of Texas. ABR rescues dogs from community shelter partners and individual owners who can no longer care for their dogs. ABR provides safe, clean, comfortable shelter in the ABR kennel or in volunteer foster homes, nutritious food, medical treatment through 17 veterinary practice partners, rehabilitation and care to prepare each dog for adoption.

A Grey Muzzle grant will enable Seniors’ Pet Assistance Network (SPAN) to provide extra help to seniors seven or older, offering each dog a "senior" exam to check for age-related illnesses and dental issues. Senior dogs have specific needs and sometimes a higher cost of care. SPAN will pay for the medications and care accompanying aging, such as arthritis medication and dental exams, cleanings, and extractions as needed. Dogs like 12-year-old Zorro can stay in their homes with their loving families because of the services SPAN provides with Grey Muzzle’s generous support.

SPAN is an innovative program that aims to foster the joy of animal companionship. SPAN supports the relationship and bond between low-income Dallas County seniors, 67 and older, and their pets.  For many, their pet is the only companionship they have. SPAN helps their clients keep their companion pets as healthy as possible for as long as possible. 

The Grey Muzzle Organization grant will allow Golden Retriever Acres Senior Sanctuary (GRASS) to provide comprehensive dental therapy for senior dogs in cases where it is medically warranted and feasible. This preventative measure can effectively slow or even halt advancement of periodontal disease allowing for a better quality of life for the dogs and potentially a significant decrease in medical maintenance costs over the rest of their lives. With Grey Muzzle's help, GRASS will be more effective in giving seniors more healthful enjoyment of their Golden years!

Golden Retriever Acres Senior Sanctuary is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2012 serving primarily as a refuge for senior and special needs Goldens by providing a clean, safe and loving sanctuary in which to live out their golden years. They also facilitate foster and adoption placements for able residents. Their kennel-free facility is situated on a beautiful two acres in Texas.

Currently dogs that are heartworm positive in Montgomery County, Texas, qualify for treatment through The Heartworm Foundation after they have been in the shelter for 30 days. The Grey Muzzle grant will allow The Heartworm Foundation to offer a seniors program that waives the 30-day wait period for dogs seven years and older. Their aim is to help heartworm-positive senior dogs get healthy and find happy, loving homes as quickly as possible.

Thousands of homeless dogs enter the Montgomery County, Texas, shelter system every year, and up to 40% of them are heartworm positive. A heartworm positive dog is 75% less likely to be adopted than a heartworm negative dog. The Heartworm Foundation’s mission is to remove heartworms as a barrier to adoption for dogs from Montgomery County animal shelters by working with adopters and other nonprofit rescues to supply treatment. Since their inception, hundreds of dogs have been successfully treated for heartworms and went on to find loving, forever homes.

Funding from The Grey Muzzle Organization will help Austin Pets Alive! (APA!) provide medical care to senior dogs rescued from shelters lacking the resources to save older pets. All senior dogs at APA! receive routine wellness care, and many also need treatment for illnesses, injuries, and chronic conditions to improve their quality of life and remove potential barriers to adoption. By treating their issues, APA! helps older dogs find loving homes faster—and can then rescue other at-risk seniors like Casper. This 11.5-years-young pup came to APA! with heartworms and in need of some serious TLC after living on the street for quite some time. Thanks to the support of The Grey Muzzle Organization, Casper got the medical treatments he needed for a second chance at happily ever after with his new family.

APA! is a nonprofit animal shelter and foster-based rescue organization pioneering comprehensive, innovative programs designed to save the most at-risk homeless companion animals and educate others to do the same through their national education and outreach division. As a leader in no-kill sheltering in America’s largest no-kill city, APA! helps more than 12,000 dogs and cats annually in central Texas and beyond, giving them a chance at the life they deserve. Since 2008, APA!